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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.